Guard for laundry bag pins



y 9, 1950 R. c. CHAPMAN 2,507,332

GUARD FOR LAUNDRY BAG PINS Filed April 7, 1948 INVENTOR.

Romaine C. Chapman Patented May 9, 19 50 GUARD FOR LAUNDRY BAG PINS Romaine C. Chapman, West Cheshire, Conn., as-

signor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application April 7, 1948, Serial No. 19,484

13 Claims.

This invention relates to safety pins and more particularly to a guard designed for use with a safety pin such as is generally used in connection with laundry wash bags.

Heretofore laundry wash bags, in which a family washing was placed as a unit and properly identified, were made of a cotton mesh material and adapted to have their open ends held closed and sealed by a relatively large safety pin.

A recent innovation in the laundry business has been to make the laundry bags of a nylon material which is quite a different material from the cotton bags and presented different problems. One of such problems that arose as a result of the new bags was that the nylon material being much finer than the cotton material could easily work its way into the coiled spring end of the safety pin and create a time consuming and annoying operation in removing the entangled pin from the open end of the bag after the washing operation. Furthermore, with the use of nylon bags as compared to cotton bags, the nylon material would take up considerably less room upon the pin point of the conventional pins, that resulted in other problems for the laundry business.

To overcome the above difficulties it is the principal object of my invention to provide a removable guard member to be used as an accessory with the conventional laundry bag safety pins and assembled thereon to prevent the nylon material of the laundry bag from being caught in the coiled spring end of the pin and also a guard that in no way can injure the nylon wash bag during the period that the bag is being subjected to a severe agitation in the course of the washing operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a guard of a character designed to be assembled to the safety pin in only one position and having provision to effect a somewhat detachable snap locking engagement with a portion of the coiled spring end of the pin when assembled,

drawing and then more particularly pointed out.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a safety pin showing it as applied to the open end of a laundry bag for closing the same and with the guard forming the subject of this invention in position on the pin.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one face of the guard, per se.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a biased longitudinal section of the guard, taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4A is a transverse section of the guard, the View taken along the line 4A4A of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on the longitudinal axis of the guard and taken along the line 55 of Fig. 2, but showing the guard in position on the coiled spring end of the safety pin.

Fig. 6 is a modification of the guard device showing an end view with the device applied to the coiled spring end of a safety pin.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same as it appears removed from the pin, and

Fig. 8 is a further modified form of the guard device showing a sectional view through the device as it appears attached to the coiled spring end of a safety pin.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral l0 denotes generally a conventional safety pin of relatively large size such as is used for closin the open end of laundry wash bags, the open end portion of which is shown in Fig. 1 and identified by the numeral H.

The pin l0 consists of the usual construction of a pin point I2 and back bar l3 integrally joined together by a coiled spring end M. A head shield or pin point keeper l 5 of sheet material is folded about the back bar l3 for permanent anchorage as at i5a and is formed with the usual opposite loop or hook portion 15b into which the pin point l2 may be removably engaged.

In using this pin in connection with the laundry wash bag II, some bags are constructed with a beaded section l6 stitched about the open end of the bag i I This beaded section l6 has a reticulated section of numerous spaced strands l1 through which the pin point I2 is adapted to be readily threaded and serving to collapse the open end of the bag together in numerous folds such as shown in Fig. 1, thus closing the open end of said bag II and sealing the same by engaging the pin point I2 in the hook portion I5b of the head shield l5. J U

As pointed out in the objects of this invention, one of the difficulties encountered in the use of laundry bags made of nylon material is the tendency of the relatively fine strands of the beaded section it of the bag II to catch or interlock within the coiled spring end I4 of the pin Iii. To insure against this difiiculty, I have designed a guard member lBpreferablymadeof relatively soft material such as rubber and designed to be removably fitted upon the safety pin I6 and interengaged with coiled spring end M in a manner to be now described.

This guard is is best shown in Figs. '2 to -inclusive, and is made of relatively*thick pliable material, and in the selection of this material preference is given to relatively soft-rubber. The guard i8 is in the form of a relatively thick rectangular shaped block having rounded ends 19. The thickness of said guard l 8 is substantially equal to the width of said guard so that in the cross section the guard will be generally of square shape, as noted in Fig. 4A. Adjacent one of the'roundedends I9 is a transverse hole 28 through which thepin. point l2 of the pin ii; is adapted to be inserted. The oppositeend oi the guard member I8 is formedwith an open slot 2| which is adapted to slide along and engage over therback bar 13 of said pin Ill.

In order to have the guard I 8 interengage with a coiled spring end I4 as'much as possible inlits fully assembled position, I provided "an arcuate recess 22 opening through one face of said guard. As noted in Fig. 2 this arcuate recess 22 is disposed on a bias relative to the longitudinal axis of the'guardlii, and thebias of said recess 22 isnrade to more T01 less conform to the helical formation 'of the coiled spring'end is so asto conveniently fit thereover.

This recess is designed to have a snap locking engagement with the adjacent portion of the coiled spring end [4. For this purpose I have designedthe arcuate recess 22 so that the portion of this recess which actually engages about or'embraces theadjacent-portion of the coiled spring end M of rounded cross sectional shape or. area as indicated-at Ztand of a size comparable to the gauge of the wire used for making the safety-pin. The side-walls 24 of this recess'22 asshowninFig. 2, are spaceda distance apart somewhat less than the diametrical dimension of the rounded cros-ssection 23. Thus, it will be obvious that, the guard member 58 being forced-to itsfinal position over the coiled end I4, thespace between the side walls 2d will necessarily have to be expanded in being forced over the'adjacent coiled: spring :endM until a portion of coiled end leis actually: engaged in therounded area 'ls of the recess 22, whereupon the walls 24 will move back to their normal position to provide a more or less snap-locking engagement with saidcoiled I end I4.

"It-i 'also to be noted that all the corner. edges of this rubber guard 58 are-rounded on a substantial radius. This is'for thepurpose ofmaking the guard I8 a relatively easy article to handle, and'also-assure that-there will not be any sharp-edges that might be injurious to the numerous strands of the laundry bag against whichthe guard mus-t necessarily rub during the washing operation.

While a specific type of laundry bag is shown and described for which this invention may be adapted, itshould be understood that the invention will-findready use for any type of bag customarily used in the laundry business.

Furthermore, while the rubber guard of the first form of invention is described as square in cross section, it is within the purview of this invention to make this guard of greater thickness so that it will materially cut down on the effective working length of the pin, which would be convenient where an exceptionally long pin is employed for closing a=nylon laundry bag.

In Figs. 6 and '7, I have shown a modification of the construction where in some instances a :guard member might be made of a solid block of material such as metal or plastic. This guard may consist of a rectangular shaped block 25 of relatively thick stock and having rounded corners 2.6. A through opening or hole 2? is provided adjacent one end of the block 25 for the receptionof the pin point 12 and an open end slot 28 is provided at the opposite end of the block 25to fit over the back bar 53. A longitudinal slot 29 is pierced through the mid portion of-this block and'biasedpnan angle conforming tothe helix of the coiled spring end 14.

This longitudinal slot 29 isdesigned to receive the adjacent portion of the coiled end it and thus permit the guard block 25 to seat against said coiled end as close aspossible without sacrificinglittleif any space withinthe housing area of the pin Hi. This type of guard wouldbe useful where relatively short pins might be used with cotton bags that take up considerablymore room in the-holding area of the pin. The'block 2.5 similar to-the guard 18 serves-to prevent the strands of the beaded-section H5 becoming entangled within the coiled end M.

Another problem that has presented itself in the use of nylon wash bags is that sometimes the severity of the washing operation has caused thepin points to springopen dueto the fact that the gathered ends of .the bag for closing the same did not fill up the space or holding area of the safety pinas solidly. aswas customary with the cotton laundry bags. With this in view the guard block 25 is designedso that the distance between the adjacent surfaces of the opening 21 and theopen end slot 28, as indicated by the dimension line A in Fig. 7, is such as to cause the pin point 12 in some measure to fulcrum inthe opening 21 rather than completely through the coiledend M to thusstrengthen the spring actionof said pin point and prevent it from openingup due to any severe blow.

.It is also conceivable that the same dimensioningeffect could be incorporated in the rubber guard-member it to afford a somewhat more stiffening action for the pin point l2 providing the rubber material-is ofsulficiently stifi character.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 8, a rubber guardis shown which ingeneral is similar to the rubberguard of the first form, but is provided with a relatively long extensionat one end that is tosurround thepinpoint l2 of the pin H3. Specifically this guard member comprises a body part 30 having a relatively long integral extension 3! projecting from the face of body part opposite from the face through which the arcuate recess 32 intercepts for receiving the coil id of the pin. The extension 3! is provided with an axial hole 33 for the reception of the pin point and the opposite end of the body-part 3B is provided with an open end slot 34 for engagement over'the back bar l3 of the pm.

This modified form with the extension is designed particularly for use upon relatively long pins where itis desiredto cut down on the effective length-oi the-pinpoint 12 when the pin is used in connection with nylon bags that would not occupy the same amount of room upon the pin as in the case of cotton bags.

Also by reason of the fact that this type of guard may be made of relatively soft rubber material the axial length of the extension 3i may be somewhat compressible to compensate for variable amounts of bag material that will in normal use be threaded upon the pin point.

While I have herein described and upon the drawing shown various illustrative embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto, but may comprehend other constructions and arrangements Without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A guard member for use as an accessory on a safety pin having the usual pin point and back bar joined by a coiled spring, said guard member comprising a rectangular shaped block having a transverse hole adjacent one end through which the pin point is inserted and an open end slot at the opposite end of said block within which said back bar is slidably received, and means in said member for receiving the adjacent portion of said coiled spring, said means comprising a biased elongated opening provided in said guard member and positioned to conform to the helix of said coiled spring.

2. A guard member for use as an accessory on a safety pin having the usual pin point and back bar joined by a coiled spring, said guard member comprising a rectangular shaped block of relatively soft material having a transverse hole adjacent one end through which the pin point is inserted and an open end slot at the opposite end of said block for receiving said back bar, and an elongated recess having an arcuate shaped base formed in one face of said member and in a biased position conformable to the helix of said coiled spring, said recess adapted to be removably fitted over the adjacent portion of said coiled spring.

3. A guard member for use as an accessory on a safety pin havin the usual pin point and back bar joined by a coiled spring, said guard member comprising a rectangular shaped block of relatively soft material having a transverse hole adjacent one end through which the pin point is inserted and an open end slot at the opposite end of said block for receiving said back bar, and an elongated recess having an arcuate shaped base formed in one face of said inember and in a biased position conformable to the helix of said coiled spring, said recess adapted to be removably fitted over the adjacent portion of said coiled spring and having means for snaplocking engagement over that portion of said coiled spring received in said recess.

4. A removable guard member for a conventional safety pin comprising a relatively thick blank of flat material having a through opening provided in one end of said blank and an open end slot at the opposite end of said blank for receiving respectively the pin point and back bar of said pin, and an elongated biased opening positioned centrally of said guard and disposed on an angle comparable to the helix of the pin coiled spring.

5. A removable guard member for use as an accessory on a conventional safety pin, said guard member comprising a rectangular shaped blank of relatively soft and thick rubber material, said blank having a hole adjacent one 6 end thereof extending through the entire thickness of said member and also having an open end slot at the opposite end of said blank, and arecess opening through only one face of said blank and so positioned as to substantially conform to the helix of the coiled spring of said pin and adapted to fit over the inner portion thereof.

6. A removable guard member for use as an accessory on a conventional safety pin, said guard member comprising a rectangular shaped blank of relatively soft and thick rub-ber material, said blank having a hole adjacent one end thereof extending through the entire thickness and also having an open slot at the opposite end of said blank, and an elongated recess formed into the material of said blank from one face thereof and so positioned and shaped as to substantially conform to the helix of the coiled spring of said pin and adapted to fit over the inner portion thereof.

'7. A removable guard member as defined by claim 6 wherein said elongated recess has an arcuate base surface rounded in cross section in conformity to the shape of the pin material, and the side walls of said recess being positioned apart a distance less than the diameter of said rounded cross section whereby said recess will effect a snap-lockin engagement over the coiled spring end of said pin when assembled thereupon.

8. A removable guard member for use as an accessory on a conventional safety pin, said guard member comprising a blank made of relatively soft pliable material having a through hole adjacent one end and an open end slot at the opposite end, and a recess provided in one face of said blank and so formed as to readily receive the adjacent portion of the coiled spring end of said pin when said guard is assembled thereupon.

9. A removable guard member for use as an accessory on a conventional safety pin comprising the usual pin point and back bar joined by a coiled spring end, said guard member comprising a blank made of relatively thick and rigid material, said blank having a through hole adjacent one end for removably receiving said pin point and a diametrically opposite open end slot for slidably embracing said back bar, and an elongated biased slot positioned centrally of said blank for receiving the adjacent section of said coiled spring end.

10. A removable guard member for use as an accessory on a conventional safety pin comprising the usual pin point and back bar joined by a coiled spring end, said guard member comprising a rectangular shaped blank made of relatively thick and rigid material, said blank having a through hole adjacent one end for removably receiving said pin point and a diametrically opposite open end slot for slidably embracing said back bar, and an elongated slot pierced through the entire thickness of said block and biased in a position conformable to the helix of the coiled spring end which is adapted to be received there-in.

11. A removable guard member for use as an accessory on a conventional safety pin comprising the usual pin point and back bar joined by a coiled spring, said guard member comprising a body member having an extension at one end, said extension having an axial hole therethrough for receiving the pin point, said body member end opposite from the extension having an open end slot for accommodating the back bar, and a recess through one face of the body member eceive the ildla altwell'tvfpQItiQnof CITED e01 s n 2 Apmmwable guardrvrmemberras ldefinedby The fol lowing references are of record in the claim '11 wherein-the guard-member-is made of file of thls Patent: arrubberzmaterial. 5 UNITEDTATES PATENTS 1 3. A remova bleguard member as eefined by Number Name Date e1a1m 11 wherem-the guard member 1s madeof 357F891 Bane et a1 Feb 1887 latively soft rubber material such that the y a re 996,639 Goldsmlth July'4, 1911 extension maybeaxially compressed. V V

ROMAINE CHAPMAN. 10 1, 60, 1 Myrgren Feb. 11, 1928 

